HOLYTRINITY 


Landis 


Zihxaxy  of  trhe  trheolo^ical  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 

.5.L25 


THE  \^^, 


JUN  11  1952 


HOLY  TRINITY 


/ 


BY 


J.  P.  LANDIS,  D.D.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Union  Biblical  Seminary 


Dayton,  Ohio 
United   Brethren    Publishing  House 

IQCZ 


Copyright  1902,  by  W.  R.  Funk,  Agent 
All  rights  reserved 


CONTENTS. 


Pagb 

I.    Preliminary, 5 

II.    The  Divine  Unity,       -       .       -       -  6 

III.  God  in  the  Father,         -       .       -       -  8 

IV.  God  in  the  Son, 9 

V.    God  in  the  Holy  Spirit,        -       -       -  33 

VI.    God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  37 

VII.    Personal   Properties   of   the  Three 

Persons, 49 

VIII.    Trinity  in  the  Old  Testament,  -       -  52 

IX.    "Collateral  Supports,"     -       -       -  57 

X.    The    Practical    Importance   of   the 

Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,       -       -  G6 


/(  IC 


THE  HOLY  TRINITY. 


I.  Preliminary. 

Lord  Bacon  (died  1626  A.  D.),  the  founder  of 
modern  philosophy,  the  father  of  the  modern 
method  in  the  search  for  truth,  has  taught  the 
world  first  to  gain  as  full  possession  as  possible 
of  the  facts  in  any  given  field,  and  then  to  examine 
into  the  relations  of  those  facts  and  discover,  if 
possible,  the  principles  underlying  them,  and  then 
proceed  to  draw  conclusions,  and  to  arrange  the 
whole  into  an  orderly  system.  This  is  called  the 
inductive  method  in  the  study  of  natural  science. 

In  the  study  of  biblical  truth  the  same  method 
should  be  pursued.  The  effort  should  be  to  as- 
certain what  are  the  statements  of  the  Scriptures 
on  a  given  subject,  and  on  kindred  subjects,  dis- 
cover their  relations,  the  principles  which  under- 
lie them,  and,  when  possible,  bring  them  into  an 

5 


The  Holy  Trinity 

orderly  arrangement.  Says  Dr.  Harris:  "We 
must  begin  with  the  elements  of  these  doctrines 
not  reduced  to  formulas  and  system.  .  .  . 
Then  as  rational  beings  we  should  trace  them  back 
as  far  as  we  can  into  the  heart  and  mind  of  God, 
and  thus  ascertain  all  that  God  in  them  has  re- 
vealed himself  to  be  in  himself  and  in  his  relation 
to  man." 

Thus  we  shall  seek  first  to  find  the  elements  of 
biblical  teaching  with  respect  to  the  being  of  God, 
and  this  in  the  way  in  which  God  historically  re- 
vealed himself.  In  a  brief  treatise  like  the  pres- 
ent, this  cannot,  of  course,  be  exhaustively  done. 
Such  a  study,  however,  reveals  that  the  order  of 
facts  or  elements  respecting  God  revealed  in  the 
Bible  was,  first,  the  fact  that  there  is  but  one 
God,  or 

II.    The  Divine  Unity. 

First  and  fundamental  is  the  teaching  that 
there  is  but  one  God.  "Hear,  0  Israel:  the  Lord 
our  God  is  one  Lord"  (Deut.  6:4).  "Know 
therefore  this  day,  and  lay  it  to  thine  heart,  that 
the  Lord  he  is  God  in  heaven  above,  and  upon 
earth  beneath;  there  is  none  else"  (Deut.  4:  39). 
"There  is  no  god  with  me:  I  kill,  and  I  make 

6 


The  Holy  Trinity 

alive;  I  wound,  and  I  heaF'  (Deut.  33 :  39).  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of  Israel,  and  his  redeemer 
the  Lord  of  hosts:  I  am  the  first,  and  I  am  the 
last;  and  beside  me  there  is  no  God,  ...  ye 
are  my  witnesses.  Is  there  a  God  beside  me?" 
(Isa.  44:6-8.)  "For  thou  art  great,  and  doest 
wondrous  things:  thou  art  God  alone"  (Ps. 
86: 10).  "There  is  no  God  else  beside  me;  a  just 
God  and  a  saviour  .  .  .  for  I  am  God,  and 
there  is  none  else"  (Isa.  45  :  21,  22).  In  the  New 
Testament,  we  have  like  teaching:  "There  is  no 
God  but  one.  For  though  there  be  that  are  called 
gods,  whether  in  heaven  or  on  earth;  as  there  are 
gods  many,  and  lords  many ;  yet  to  us  there  is  one 
God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all  things,  and  we 
unto  him"  (I.  Cor.  8:4-6).  "One  God  and  Father 
of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in 
all"  (Eph.  4:6).  "Thou  believest  that  there  is 
one  God ;  thou  doest  well"  (James  2:19).  'TTnto 
the  King  eternal,  incorruptible,  invisible,  the  only 
God,  be  honor  and  glory  for  ever  and  ever"  (I. 
Tim.  1: 17).  "And  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they 
should  know  thee  the  only  true  God"  (John 
17:3).  These  and  other  scriptures  teach  most 
emphatically  that  there  is  but  one  God,  in  opposi- 

7 


The  Holy  Trinity 

tion  to  the  doctrine  of  polytheism,  which  is  the 
belief  of  so  large  a  part  of  the  human  race.  It  is 
opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  tritheism ;  that  is,  that 
there  are  three  gods,  as  those  holding  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  are  sometimes  falsely  charged 
with  teaching. 

This  doctrine  of  the  divine  unity  is  to  be  mani- 
festly understood  as  implying  not  only  the  ''onli- 
ness"  of  God,  but  also  the  ''oneness"  of  God;  that 
is,  that  God  is  numerically  and  indivisibly  one  in 
his  substance,  just  as  man's  soul  or  mind  is,  in  its 
essential  being,  one  and  indivisible.  The  Bible  no- 
where hints  at  multiplicity  or  division  of  the  di- 
vine substance.  It  needs  to  be  clearly  understood 
that  the  Christian  church  has  always  understood 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible  to  be  the  unity  of  God 
in  such  a  sense  that  she  could  not  be  justly  charged 
with  holding  to  the  possible  divisibility  of  the 
divine  essence, 

III.   God  in  the  Father. 

The  divinity  of  the  Father  has  been  universally 
held.  "And  David  said.  Blessed  be  thou,  0  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel,  our  father,  for  ever  and  ever" 
(I.  Chr.  29:10).     "But  now,  0  Lord,  thou  art 

8 


The  Holy  Trinity 

our  father"  (Isa.  64:  8).  "Ye  are  the  sons  of  the 
living  God"  (Hos.  1: 10).  "That  ye  may  be  sons 
of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.  5 :  45). 
"At  that  season  Jesus  answered  and  said,  I  thank 
thee,  0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth"  (Matt. 
11 :  25).  "And  whensoever  ye  stand  praying,  for- 
give, if  ye  have  aught  against  any  one ;  that  your 
Father  also  which  is  in  heaven  may  forgive  you 
your  trespasses"  (Mark  11 :  25) .  "And  when  Jesus 
had  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  he  said.  Father,  into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit"  (Luke  23:46). 
"But  Jesus  answered  them.  My  Father  worketh 
even  until  now,  and  I  work.  For  this  cause  there- 
fore the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  be- 
cause he  not  only  brake  the  sabbath,  but  also  called 
God  his  own  Father,  making  himself  equal  with 
God"  (John  5: 17,  18).  These  are  only  a  few  of 
very  numerous  passages  in  which  God  is  spoken  of 
as  Father. 

IV.   God  in  the  Son. 

Jesus  Christ  is  often  spoken  of  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as,  in  a  unique  sense,  the  Son  of  God;  in- 
deed, in  such  a  sense  as  to  make  him  equal  with 
the  Father  in  all  the  essential  elements  of  his  be- 
ing.    That  is,  as  Dr.  Harris  puts  it:    "God  in 

9 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Christ.    The  being  who  in  Christ  was  manifested 
in  the  flesh  is  God." 

1.  His  existence  before  he  appeared  in  the 
world  implies  his  divinity.  He  said,  "I  am  come 
down  from  heaven"  (John  6:38).  "Glorify  thou 
me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I  had 
with  thee  before  the  world  was"  (John  17:5). 
"No  man  hath  ascended  into  heaven,  but  he  that  de- 
scended out  of  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man,  which 
is  in  heaven"  (John  3:13).  "Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  before  Abraham  was,  I  am"  (John 
8:58).  In  this  expression,  the  Jews  understood 
the  speaker  to  claim  equality  with  God,  for  they 
took  up  stones  to  stone  him,  charging  him  with 
having  spoken  blasphemy.  If  their  inference  were 
incorrect,  as  an  honest  man,  and  especially  as  one 
in  the  role  of  their  teacher,  he  should  have  cor- 
rected them,  but  he  only  escaped  out  of  their  pres- 
ence, leaving  them  under  the  impression  of  his 
claim  to  divinity.  When  God  appeared  to  Moses 
in  the  burning  bush,  he  announced  himself  as  "I 
AM  THAT  I  AM."  God  said  to  Moses,  "Thus 
shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  AM 
hath  sent  me  unto  you."  "History  shows  that 
Jesus  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Old  Tes- 
10 


The  Holy  Trinity 

tament,  and  deeply  imbued  with  its  reverence  for 
God,  yet  he  here  appropriates  to  himself  the  sub- 
lime name,  ^I  AM/  by  which  Jehovah  revealed 
himself  to  Moses.  In  this  state  preceding  his 
earthly  life  he  existed  in  glory  with  the  Father" 
(Dr.  Harris).  In  Colossians  1: 17,  we  read,  "He 
is  before  all  things."  The  immediate  context 
speaks  of  him  as  the  creator  of  all  things,  so  that 
these  words,  "He  is  before  all  things,"  place  him 
out  of  the  class  of  things  created ;  that  is,  he  is  un- 
created, therefore  eternal,  and  if  eternal,  then  di- 
vine. In  the  high-priestly  prayer  of  Jesus  (John 
17:5),  he  prays,  "And  now,  0  Father,  glorify 
thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which 
I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was."  "In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  ...  all  things 
were  made  by  him"  (John  1:1-3).  "Who,  being 
in  the  form  of  God,  counted  it  not  a  prize  to  be  on 
an  equality  with  God,  but  emptied  himself,  taking 
the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness 
of  men"  (Phil.  2 :  6,  7).  He  came  into  this  world 
as  a  man.  In  doing  this  he  emptied  himself,  tak- 
ing the  form  of  a  servant.  This  "emptying  him- 
self" plainly  implies  his  existence  prior  to  his  tak- 


11 


The  Holy  Trinity 

ing  the  form  of  a  servant,  or  "being  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men." 

These  passages  of  scripture,  and  others,  show 
the  error  of  the  Socinians,  the  disciples  of  Socinus, 
who  died  in  1604,  and  of  the  present-day  Uni- 
tarians, that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  mere  man,  and  had 
no  existence  prior  to  his  birth  into  this  world. 
Arianism  teaches  that  Christ  existed  before  his 
birth,  but  not  coeternally  with  the  Father,  yet  was 
the  first  and  noblest  of  the  beings  created  by  God. 
This  doctrine  is  also  opposed  by  several  of  the  pas- 
sages above  quoted,  as  also  by  the  general  teach- 
ings of  the  Scriptures  as  to  the  nature  or  being 
of  Christ,  as  will  appear  in  the  course  of  this  es- 
say. 

2.  The  title.  Son  of  God.  This  was  appro- 
priated by  Christ  and  given  him  by  his  disciples, 
not  in  an  accommodated  sense,  but  manifestly  in 
the  highest  import,  denoting  his  proper  deity. 
"Nathaniel  answered  him,  Eabbi,  thou  art  the 
Son  of  God;  thou  art  King  of  Israel"  (John  1: 
49).  This  was  in  response  to  the  discovery  Christ 
had  made  to  him  that  he  had  "the  divine  power 
of  the  Heart-searcher  to  look  upon  the  soul."  Dr. 
Schaff  says :   "The  title,  'the  Son  of  God,'  was  a 

12 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Tare  designation  of  the  Messiah,  derived  from 
Psalms  2:5,  12.  (Compare  Isaiah  9:6.)  .  .  . 
It  signifies  the  divine  nature,  as  the  titles,  ^Son  of 
man'  and  'Son  of  David,'  signify  the  human  na- 
ture of  the  Messiah."  Matthew  16:16,  "And 
Simon  Peter  answered  and  said.  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  That  the  title 
is  here  used  in  its  highest  sense  is  manifest  from 
the  response  of  the  Lord,  "Blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
Bar-Jona:  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed 
it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
No  revelation  from  the  Father  would  have  been 
necessary  to  convince  Peter  that  Jesus  was  a  mere 
creature  of  God,  however  great  or  exalted.  When 
Jesus  came  to  the  disciples,  walking  on  the  stormy 
waves  of  the  sea,  and  the  winds  and  the  waves 
quieted  on  his  being  received  into  the  boat,  they 
said,  "Of  a  truth  thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  (See 
also  Martha's  confession,  John  11:27.)  When 
Jesus  said,  "My  Father  worketh  even  until  now, 
and  I  work,"  the  Jews  "sought  the  more  to  kill 
him,"  because  he  "called  God  his  own  Father, 
making  himself  equal  with  God"  (John  5:17, 
18).  When  he  said,  "I  and  the  Father  are  one," 
"the  Jews  took  up  stones  again  to  stone  him,"  as 

13 


The  Holy  Trinity 

they  said,  "because  that  thou,  being  a  man,  mak- 
eth  thyself  God."  In  the  fifth  chapter  of  the 
Gospel  of  John,  Jesus  a  number  of  times  appro- 
priates the  unique  relation  and  the  title,  "Son  of 
God.'^ 

3.  The  very  name,  "God,"  in  its  most  august 
sense,  is  applied  to  Christ.  Sometimes  the  name, 
"god,"  is  applied  in  a  subordinate  or  relative  sense, 
as  to  Moses,  to  princes,  judges,  magistrates,  be- 
cause in  the  respect  of  authority  or  supremacy  they 
exercise  functions  which,  in  the  highest  sense,  are 
exercised  by  God.  Notice  such  passages  as  the 
following :  John  1 : 1,  14,  "The  Word  was  God 
.  .  .  And  the  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us."  Dr.  Harris  remarks:  "He  empha- 
sizes this  by  affirming,  positively,  that  all  things 
were  made  by  him,  and,  negatively,  that  without 
him  was  not  anything  made  that  has  been  made; 
that  in  him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of 
men."  John  20 :  28,  the  confession  of  the  doubt- 
ing Thomas,  "My  Lord  and  my  God."  Eomans 
9 :  5,  '^hose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom  is 
Christ  as  concerning  the  flesh,  [here  referring  to 
his  human  nature,]  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed 
for  ever."    Although  strenuous  efforts  have  been 

14 


The  Holy  Trinity 

made  to  parry  the  force  of  this  passage,  the  word 
"God"  is  directly  applied  to  Christ,  the  only  view, 
as  Dean  Alford  says,  "admissible  by  the  rules  of 
grammar  and  arrangement."  Lange's  "Commen- 
tary" says  that  on  no  point  where  there  is  any 
room  for  discussion  has  the  unanimity  of  com- 
mentators of  all  ages  and  confessions  been  so  en- 
tire. Hebrews  1 :  8,  "But  of  the  Son  he  saith. 
Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever."  The 
subject  of  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  as  announced 
by  him,  is  the  "Word  of  Life,"  "which  we  have 
heard,  .  .  .  seen  with  our  eyes,  .  .  .  be- 
held, and  our  hands  have  handled."  He  closes 
the  Epistle  by  saying,  "We  are  in  him  that  is  true, 
even  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  true 
God  and  eternal  life."  Peter,  in  his  second  Epis- 
tle, chapter  one,  verse  one,  refers  to  "the  right- 
eousness of  our  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  In 
Titus  2:13,  we  read,  "Looking  for  the  blessed 
hope  and  appearing  of  the  glory  of  our  great  God 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  This  text  seems  to 
be  a  studied  declaration  of  the  deity  of  Christ. 

4.  The  incommunicable  name,  "Jehovah,"  of 
the  Old  Testament  is,  in  the  New,  ascribed  to 
Christ.    This  name  denotes  independent,  eternal, 

15 


The  Holy  Trinity 

and  immutable  being.  It  is  the  specific  name  of 
the  true  God.  Isaiah  says,  chapter  six,  verse  one, 
"I  saw  also  Jehovah  .  .  .  high  and  lifted  up, 
and  his  train  filled  the  temple."  John,  in  his 
Gospel,  twelfth  chapter,  thirty-seventh  to  forty- 
first  verses,  quoting  from  the  language  of  the 
Lord  in  this  vision,  says,  "These  things  said  Isaiah 
because  he  saw  his  [Christ's]  glory;  and  he  spake 
of  him."  (Compare,  also,  Joel  2:32  with  Eom. 
10 :  13 ;  Isa.  40 :  3  with  Matt.  3:3;  Isa.  8 :  13,  14, 
and  Isa.  28 :  16  with  I.  Peter  2 :  6-8 ;  Zech.  12 :  10 
with  John  19:37.)  The  eminent  Dr.  Henry  B. 
Smith  also  urges  (1)  passages  in  which  there  is 
an  indirect  use  of  the  name  of  God,  or  in  which 
the  language  implies  full  divinity.  (See  Phil. 
2:6-8;  Heb.  1:3;  John  5:18;  10:33;  19:7.) 
If  Jesus  were  not  God,  as  the  Jews  understood  him 
to  claim,  they  were  right  according  to  their  law 
and  the  moral  law  in  accusing  him  of  blasphemy. 
His  only  replies  were  a  defense  of  his  language 
showing  his  right  to  the  claims  he  made.  (2) 
Passages  implying  Christ's  entire  oneness  of  pur- 
pose and  of  action  with  God.  (John  5: 19;  17: 
10;  5:17;  10:30.)  Consider  the  first  of  these: 
"The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he 

16 


The  Holy  Trinity 

seeth  the  Father  doing :  for  what  things  soever  he 
doeth,  these  the  Son  also  doeth  in  like  manner." 
He  then  specifies  works  which  only  God  can  per- 
form, such  as  raising  the  dead  and  the  judgment 
of  mankind. 

5.  Another  class  of  passages  is  those  in  which 
Christ  is  called  "Lord/'  in  the  supreme  sense. 
This  title  is  ascribed  to  him  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment with  much  the  same  frequency  and  pre- 
eminence that  God  is  called  Lord,  which  is  the 
translation  for  "Jehovah"  in  the  Old  Testament. 
He  is  called  "Lord  of  lords."  A  few  of  the  many 
instances  of  the  use  of  this  term  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  applied  to  Christ  in  a  sense  and  in  con- 
nections which  imply  a  power  or  dignity  above 
such  as  are  appropriate  to  a  creature,  are  these: 
'Tiord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean." 
"To  be  present  with  the  Lord."  "Which  the  Lord 
shall  give  me  in  that  day."  "Them  that  call  on 
the  Lord."  "They  that  in  every  place  call  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  'Whosoever  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved."  "The  day 
of  the  Lord,"  the  judgment  day.  "The  Lord's 
day,"  meaning  the  Christian  Sabbath. 


17 


The  Holy  Trinity 

6.  Such  works  are  ascribed  to  Christ  as  only 
God  can  perform: 

(1)  Creation  is  ascribed  to  him.  "All  things 
were  made  by  him ;  and  without  him  was  not  any- 
thing made  that  hath  been  made"  (John  1:3). 
"Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  works 
of  thy  hands"  (Heb.  1:10).  "In  him  were  all 
things  created,  in  the  heavens  and  upon  the  earth, 
things  visible  and  things  invisible,  whether  thrones 
or  dominions  or  principalities  or  powers ;  all  things 
have  been  created  through  him,  and  unto  him" 
(Col.  1: 16).  This  is  a  remarkable  passage,  very 
forcible  and  comprehensive.  Observe  the  three 
phrases,  "In  him,"  "through  him,"  and  "for,  or 
unto  him."  Johann  Bengel,  the  eminent  and 
pious  "father  of  modern  exegesis,"  said,  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  concerning  these  words, 
"There  is  here  indicated  beginning,  progress,  and 
end."  "  'In  him'  denotes  the  creative  center  of  all 
things,  the  casual  element  of  their  existence; 
.  .  .  the  conditional  cause,  the  act  of  creation 
being  supposed  to  rest  in  him,  and  to  depend  on 
him  for  its  completion  and  realization.^' 
"^Through  him'   denotes,"  he  says,   "the  cama 

18 


The  Holy  Trinity 

medians  of  creation;  that  is,  the  instrumental 
cause.  Tor,  or  unto  him'  denotes  the  final  cause, 
that  for  which  it  was  created."  "It  was  to  form  a 
portion  of  his  glory,  and  to  be  subjected  to  his 
dominion  that  all  things  were  created"  (Ellicott 
on  Colossians).  Dean  Alford,  in  his  comment  on 
these  words,  says,  "He  is  the  end  of  creation,  con- 
taining the  reason  in  himself  why  creation  is  at 
all,  and  why  it  is  as  it  is."  Now,  in  Komans 
11 :  36,  it  is  said  of  God,  "For  of  him,  and  through 
him,  and  unto  him,  are  all  things."  Bishop  Elli- 
cott justly  remarks,  "If  the  Son  had  not  been  God, 
such  an  interchange  of  important  relations  would 
never  have  seemed  possible."  The ,  argument  is, 
God  only  could  create  the  universe ;  Christ  created 
the  universe ;  Christ,  therefore,  is  God.  In  Gene- 
sis 1 : 1,  it  is  said,  "In  the  beginning  God  created 
the  heaven  and  the  earth" ;  in  Isaiah  44 :  24,  "I 
am  the  Lord  [Jehovah]  that  maketh  all  things"; 
in  Hebrews  3 :  4,  "He  that  built  all  things  is  God" ; 
but  in  John  1 :  3,  and  Colossians  1 :  16,  these 
very  works  are  ascribed  to  Christ.  It  would  seem 
that  only  one  legitimate  conclusion  is  possible; 
namely,  that  Christ  is  God. 

(2)  The  upholding  or  continuing  of  all  things 

19 


The  Holy  Trinity 

is  attributed  to  Christ.  How  vast,  how  mighty  is 
the  universe!  This  earth  is  carefully  estimated 
by  scientists  to  weigh  six  sextillions  (6,000,000,- 
000,000,000,000,000)  of  tons!  The  planet  Jupi- 
ter, though  not  so  dense  as  our  earth,  is  at  least 
fourteen  hundred  times  the  size  of  this  globe. 
Saturn  is  nine  hundred  times  its  size,  Uranus 
more  than  eighty-five  times,  and  Neptune  almost 
eighty  times  as  large,  yet  multitudes  of  the  fixed 
stars,  which  themselves  are  suns,  are  hundreds  of 
times  and  some  of  them  probably  thousands  of 
times  as  large  as  our  sun.  There  are  known  to 
be  at  least  one  hundred  million  of  these  sidereal 
bodies,  and  with  every  increase  of  the  power  of 
our  telescopes  new  stars  and  even  new  nebulas, 
which  are  almost  universes  in  themselves,  are  re- 
vealed to  our  astonished  gaze.  Jupiter  is  almost 
500,000,000  of  miles  from  the  sun,  Saturn  about 
900,000,000,  Uranus,  1,700,000,000,  and  Neptune, 
2,800,000,000  of  miles  distant  from  the  sun.  And 
yet  Polaris,  the  North  Star,  is  countless  millions 
of  times  farther  away  from  Neptune,  and  others 
are  enormous  stretches  of  inconceivable  distances 
more  remote  even  than  Polaris.  Yet,  if  the  New 
Testament  is  to  be  accepted,  Christ  created  and 


The  Holy  Trinity 

upholds  these !  In  Hebrews  1:3,  he  is  expressly- 
said  to  be  "upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of 
his  power."  In  Colossians  1 :  17,  it  is  said,  "In 
him  all  things  consist."  The  margin  says,  "Hold 
together."  The  verb  here  translated  "consist," 
primarily  means  "to  make  stand  together." 
Lange's  "Commentary"  says:  "Without  Christ 
all  things  would  fall  asunder.  .  .  .  The  refer- 
ence is  to  organic  permanence,  the  continuance 
of  the  composition  of  the  things  of  the  world  ^in 
him,'  because  he  holds  together  what  he  has 
created." 

(3)  The  providential  government  of  the  world 
is  in  his  hands.  (Eead  Matt.  28:18;  Luke  10: 
22;  John  3:35;  John  17:2;  Eph.  1:22;  Col. 
1:17;  Heb.  1:3.) 

(4)  Forgiveness  of  sins.  (Read  Matt.  9:2-7; 
Mark  2:  7-10;  Col.  3:13.) 

(5)  Sending  the  Holy  Spirit.  "But  when  the 
Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you 
from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth"  (John 
15:26).     (See  also  John  16:  7.) 

(6)  The  resurrection  of  the  dead.  (Read  John" 
5:25-29.)  "The  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  who  shall 
fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that 

21 


The  Holy  Trinity 

it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  his  glory" 
(Phil.  3;  20,  21). 

(7)  The  final  judgment.  "For  neither  doth 
the  Father  judge  any  man,  but  he  hath  given  all 
judgment  unto  the  Son"  (John  5:  22).  "For  we 
must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ;  that  each  one  may  receive  the 
things  done  in  the  body"  (II.  Cor.  5: 10). 

7.     Divine  attributes  are  ascribed  to  Him: 

(1)  Eternity.  (Read  John  1:1;  Rev.  1 :  8,  17, 
18 ;  Rev.  22 :  13 ;  Isa.  9:6;  Heb.  13:8.) 

(2)  Omnipotence.  (Read  Isa.  9:6;  Phil.  3: 
21;  Heb.  1:3;  John  5:17;  Rev.  1:8,  11,  17.) 

(3)  Omnipresence.  (Heb.  1:3;  Matt.  28 :  20  ; 
John  3: 13;  Matt.  18:20.) 

(4)  Omniscience,  or  perfect  knowledge.  (Matt. 
11 :  27 ;  John  2 :  23-25 ;  John  21 :  17 ;  Rev.  2 :  23.) 

(5)  TJnchangeableness.  (Heb.  1:11,  12;  13: 
8.)  The  nature  of  an  object  or  being  is  deter- 
mined by  its  essential  attributes — matter  by  ma- 
terial attributes,  spirit  by  spiritual  attributes,  a 
finite  being  by  finite  attributes,  or  the  Infinite 
Being  by  infinite  attributes,  or  the  Divine  Being 
by  divine  attributes.  If  such  attributes  as  can 
belong  only  to  the  Divine  Being  are  found  to  be 


The  Holy  Trinity 

ascribed  to  Christ,  he  must  be  divine.  The  attri- 
butes above  enumerated  are  such  as  belong  only 
to  the  Infinite  or  Divine  Being.  Hence,  Christ 
must  be  a  divine  being. 

8.  The  New  Testament  teaches  that  the  pure 
intelligences  of  heaven  worship  Christ,  and  that 
men  should  also  do  so.  "And  I  say,  and  I  heard 
a  voice  of  many  angels  round  about  the  throne  and 
the  living  creatures  and  the  elders ;  and  the  num- 
ber of  them  w;as  ten  thousand  times  ten  thou- 
sand, and  thousands  of  thousands,  saying  with  a 
great  voice.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  hath  been 
slain  to  receive  the  power,  and  riches,  and  wis- 
dom, and  might,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  bless- 
ing. And  every  created  thing  which  is  in  the 
heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth, 
and  on  the  sea,  and  all  things  that  are  in  them, 
heard  I  saying.  Unto  him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb,  be  the  blessing  and 
the  honour,  and  the  glory,  and  the  dominion,  for 
ever  and  ever.  And  the  four  living  creatures  said, 
Amen.  And  the  elders  fell  down  and  worshipped" 
(Eev.  5 :  11-14) .  The  apostles  prayed  to  the  glori- 
fied Christ  at  the  time  of  the  election  of  Matthias 
to  the   vacant  apostleship.     Stephen  prayed  to 

23 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Christ  at  the  time  of  his  martyrdom.  As  a  re- 
ward for  his  humiliation  and  obedience  even  unto 
death,  Paul  says  he  is  to  receive  universal  hom- 
age: "Wherefore  also  God  highly  exalted  him, 
and  gave  unto  him  the  name  which  is  above  every 
name ;  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should 
bow,  of  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth  and 
things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue 
should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father"  (Phil.  2:9-11).  The 
apostolic  benediction  expresses  a  form  of  divine 
worship:  "The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all"  (IL  Cor.  13:14). 
"Faith  in  Christ  is  the  indispensable  beginning 
and  support  of  all  Christian  character  and  work, 
and  the  one  indispensable  condition  of  justifica- 
tion. 'In  none  other  is  there  salvation ;  for  neither 
is  there  any  other  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved.'  This  certainly 
is  worship  to  be  rendered  to  God  alone,  for  wor- 
ship is  only  the  expression  of  faith  or  trust  in 
God ;  and  here  the  whole  Christian  life  and  work, 
with  all  its  promise,  its  hope,  its  power  of  renova- 
tion, rests  on  faith  in  Christ"  (Dr.  Harris).    Now 

24 


The  Holy  Trinity 

the  decalogue  expressly  forbids  the  worship  of 
any  being  but  God.  To  bestow  divine  worship  on 
any  other  being  but  God  would  be  idolatry,  which 
the  Bible,  over  and  over  again,  forbids  and  de- 
nounces. 

In  Jeremiah  17:5-7,  it  is  said:  "Thus  saith 
the  Lord:  Cursed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in 
man,  and  maketh  flesh  his  arm,  and  whose  heart 
departeth  from  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Blessed  is  the 
man  that  trusteth  in  tlie  Lord,  and  whose  hope 
the  Lord  is."  If,  then,  Christ  is  to  be  worshiped, 
he  must  be  God.  (See  also  Matt.  38:19;  John 
5:22,  23;  14:1;  L  Cor.  1:2;  Heb.  1:6;  Luke 
24:51,  52.) 

9.  There  is  a  class  of  scripture  passages  which 
set  forth  Christ  as  the  highest  or  first  person  in 
the  universe,  excepting  the  Father.  "All  au- 
thority hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
on  earth"  (Matt.  28: 18).  "All  things  have  been 
delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father"  (Matt.  11:  27). 
"He  that  cometh  from  above  is  above  all"  (John 
3:  31).  "Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God, 
the  firstborn  of  all  creation"  (Col.  1 :  15) .  Bishop 
Ellicott,  one  of  the  greatest  biblical  expositors  in 
Great  Britain,  calls  this  an  "august  passage,"  and 

25 


The  Holy  Trinity 

remarks,  '^Christian  antiquity  has  ever  regarded 
the  expression,  'image  of  God/  as  denoting  the 
eternal  Son's  perfect  equality  with  the  Father  in 
respect  of  his  substance,  nature,  and  eternity/' 
"The  Son  is  the  Father's  image  in  all  things  save 
only  in  being  the  Father."  The  expression, 
"Firstborn  of  all  creation,"  or,  as  others  translate 
it,  "before  every  creature,"  signifies  "begotten," 
and  that  antecedently  to  everything  that  was 
created,  Note,  also:  "And  he  is  before  all 
things"  (Col.  1:17).  "I  am  the  Alpha  and 
Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and 
the  end"  (Rev.  22:13).  How  could  such  lan- 
guage be  used  of  a  man  or  angel  or  archangel? 
Such  language  as  this  is  used  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  set  forth  Jehovah,  the  true  God.  "I  am 
the  first,  and  I  am  the  last;  and  beside  me  there 
is  no  God"  (Isa.  44:  6).  "I  am  the  first,  I  also 
am  the  last"  (Isa.  48: 12).  Hebrews  1 :  3,  reads, 
^'Who  being  the  effulgence  of  his  glory,  and  the 
very  image  of  his  substance."  The  late  Canon 
Liddon  says  of  this:  "That  he  is  one  with  God 
as  having  streamed  forth  eternally  from  the  Fa- 
ther's essence,  like  a  ray  of  light  from  the  parent 
fire  with  which  it  is  unbrokenly  joined,  is  implied 

26 


The  Holy  Trinity 

in  the  expression,  ^effulgence  of  his  glory.'  That 
he  is  both  personally  distinct  from,  and  yet  lit- 
erally equal  to  him  of  whose  essence  he  is  the  ade- 
quate imprint,  is  taught  us  in  the  phrase,  Very 
image  of  his  substance.'  "^ 

10.  Christ  assumes  such  titles  and  such  dig- 
nity as  cannot  belong  to  a  man,  or,  indeed,  to  any 
creature,  however  exalted,  and  this  teaches  his 
deity.  That  is  to  say,  he,  in  a  great  variety  of  ex- 
pressions, claimed  to  be  in  the  highest  sense  di- 
vine. He  said,  ^'I  am  the  light  of  the  world :  he 
that  foUoweth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but 
shall  have  the  light  of  life"  (John  8: 12).  Even 
the  great  and  eminent  and  wondrously-endowed 
Apostle  Paul  would  only  say,  "Be  ye  imitators  of 
me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ."  Christ  says, 
"I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life;  no 
one  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  What 
one  even  of  the  hierarchy  of  heaven  could  say,  as 
Jesus  did,  "I  am  the  truth"?  Compare  this  with 
Mark  13:  31,  "Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away: 
but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away."  And  these 
words,  "As  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  even 
so  gave  he  to  the  Son  also  to  have  life  in  himself" ; 

» "Our  Lord's  Divinity,"  p.  322. 
27 


The  Holy  Trinity 

that  is,  "life  is  resident  in  him  in  virtue  of  an  un- 
defined and  eternal  communication  of  it  from  the 
Father"  (Liddon).  Christ  said:  "I  am  the 
bread  of  life."  "I  am  the  living  bread  which  came 
down  out  of  heaven:  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread 
he  shall  live  for  ever."  "What  things  soever  he 
[the  Father]  doeth,  these  the  Son  also  doeth  in 
like  manner."  "Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst."  "I  am 
the  door;  by  me  if  any  man  enter  in  he  shall  be 
saved."  "I  am  the  good  shepherd."  "I  am  the 
true  vine.''  "He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him, 
the  same  beareth  much  fruit."  "Apart  from  me 
ye  can  do  nothing."  All  these  are  superlative 
claims  and  utterly  out  of  place  as  coming  from  a 
mere  man  or  even  an  angel  or  archangel. 

Consider,  also,  the  following  language :  "If  ye 
abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ask  what- 
soever ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you." 
"If  ye  shall  ask  me  anything  in  my  name,  that 
will  I  do."  Could  deity  make  any  higher  claims 
or  more  unqualified  promises  than  these?  Christ 
also  said:  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  myself."  "He  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."    "My  Father 

28 


The  Holy  Trinity 

worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work."  In  this 
last  expression,  Christ  claimed  divinity  in  a  two- 
fold way:  First,  in  claiming  a  peculiar  divine 
sonship;  and,  second,  in  putting  his  own  activity 
into  the  same  order  as  the  activity  of  the  Father, 
and  making  it  of  the  same  dignity.  The  whole 
subsequent  discourse  shows  that  Jesus  meant  what 
the  Jews  understood  him  to  mean — that  he 
claimed  equality  with  God.  Owen  says:  "There 
is  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  Jesus  did  here 
claim,  and  intended  to  claim,  absolute  equality 
with  the  Father.''  Says  Dr.  Stier,  in  his  "Words 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  "The  Father  and  the  Son  in 
personal  distinction,  but  in  indivisible  unity  of 
nature,  is  the  theme  that  runs  through  the  whole 
of  the  discourse."  The  following  claims  also  ex- 
ceed all  prerogatives  of  a  mere  creature,  but  are 
applicable  to  a  divine  being:  "I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life."  "That  all  may  honour  the 
Son,  even  as  they  honour  the  Father."  "If  God 
were  your  Father  ye  would  love  me."  "Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  What  sorrow-laden  heart, 
what  sin-burdened  soul,  what  person  overwhelmed 
with  trouble  or  adversity,  what  despairing  man  or 

29 


The  Holy  Trinity 

woman,  forsaken,  lone,  in  anguish,  broken  of 
heart,  that  has  met  with  these  words,  and  has  had 
all  darkness  dispelled,  all  anguish  assuaged,  the 
burden  lifted,  has  ever  thought  to  give  the  praise 
and  glory  of  his  release  and  relief  to  any  but  to 
Christ  as  God? 

Again,  Jesus  said,  "Ye  believe  in  God,  believe 
also  in  me."  Does  he  not  here  put  himself  on  an 
equality  with  God,  the  Father,  as  an  object  of 
trust  ?  "Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give 
unto  you."  "I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you." 
"I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself; 
that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  "But 
when  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send 
unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of 
truth  ...  he  shall  bear  witness  of  me." 
Here  he  claims  the  authority  and  power  to  send 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  Christ  claims  such  supreme 
consequence  and  importance  that  the  Holy  Spirit, 
sent  forth  from  the  Father  by  Christ,  shall  bear 
witness  of  him.  These  words  would  be  blasphemy 
and  madness,  if  Christ  were  not  divine.  Still 
again:  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  Note  these  words: 
"If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  words:  and 

30 


The  Holy  Trinity 

my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto 
him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him."  "We,"  my 
Father  and  I,  "will  come  unto  him  and  make  our 
abode  with  him."  He  claims  equal  prerogative 
with  the  Father,  and  equal  dignity.  "Lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
Consider,  also,  this  declaration  of  his,  "He  that 
loveth  father  or  mother,  .  .  .  son  or  daugh- 
ter, more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me."  He  here 
demands  supreme  love.  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  says 
of  this,  "Such  supreme  love  is  due  to  God  alone, 
and  Christ,  in  claiming  this  love  from  us,  places 
himself  before  us  as  God."  Dr.  Schaff  says :  "Our 
Lord  claims  here  a  love  stronger  than  the  dearest 
natural  attachment,  such  a  love  and  devotion  as 
is  due  only  to  a  truly  divine  being.  This  is  one 
of  those  extraordinary  claims  which,  in  him,  the 
God-man,  are  perfectly  easy,  natural,  and  irresis- 
tible, while  in  others  they  would  be  extreme  mad- 
ness and  intolerable  presumption."  Let  one  pon- 
der these,  and  similar  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
ask  himself.  What  do  they  naturally  teach  con- 
cerning him  ?  Is  it  not  safe  to  say  that  they  most 
certainly  and  inevitably  teach,  and  were  most  cer- 
tainly meant  to  teach,  the  deity  of  him  who  ut- 

31 


The  Holy  Trinity 

tered  them  ?  This,  as  I  have  elsewhere  said,  is  the 
opinion  of  about  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  out 
of  every  thousand  of  all  the  able  and  learned  ex- 
positors of  the  Word;  it  has  been  the  opinion  of 
the  Christian  church  in  all  the  ages,  with  only 
here  and  there  a  sporadic  exception.  One  of  three 
suppositions  may  be  possible  with  respect  to  the 
being  who  made  these  extraordinary  claims :  First, 
that  he  was  a  conscious  impostor;  second,  that  he 
was  an  enthusiast  and  beside  himself;  that  is,  in 
effect,  insane;  or,  third,  that  he  was  in  reality 
what  his  words  indicate  he  meant  the  world  should 
regard  him  as  being ;  namely,  a  divine  person.  The 
infinite  God  could  not,  and  did  not  make  more 
clear  or  definite  claims  to  divine  dignity,  author- 
ity, and  ability  than  Jesus  Christ  made.  On  the 
supposition  that  he  was  truly  divine,  the  above- 
quoted  words  are  all  appropriate  and  natural;  if 
he  was  not,  they  are  not  only  not  appropriate  or 
natural,  but  are  gross  and  intolerable  arrogance; 
more,  they  are  downright  blasphemy.  Put  such 
language  upon  the  lips  of  Abraham,  Moses,  Isaiah, 
Paul,  the  beloved  John,  or  even  Gabriel  himself, 
and  every  sober  mind  will  be  shocked,  and  will  re- 
coil.    Some  of  the  Roman  emperors  demanded 

32 


The  Holy  Trinity 

that  divine  honors  be  paid  to  them,  and  they  have 
been  rewarded  with  the  scorn  and  contempt  of 
mankind.  Nebuchadnezzar  made  such  claims,  and 
the  Lord  of  heaven  smote  him  with  a  species  of 
madness  that  drove  him  into  the  pastures,  where, 
for  seven  years,  he  fed  with  the  cattle  upon  grass, 
under  the  delusion  that  he  himself  was  an  ox. 
The  first  and  second  of  the  above  suppositions  are 
precluded  by  the  perfect  moral  character,  the  wis- 
dom, sobriety,  calmness,  and  consistency  of 
Christ's  conduct  and  teachings.  There  remains 
for  us  the  conclusion  that  he  was  what  he  claimed 
to  be — the  Son  of  God,  or  God  in  the  Son. 

V.    God  in  the  Holy  Spirit. 

God  is  presented  to  us  in  the  Scriptures  in  still 
another,  a  third  mode  of  being — that  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

1.  Let  us  notice  some  of  the  names  given  to 
him: 

(1)  He  is  called  God.  In  Acts  5:  3,  4,  'Teter 
said,  Ananias,  why  hath  Satan  filled  thy  heart 
to  lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  .  .  .  Thou  hast  not 
lied  unto  men,  but  unto  God."  Here  God  and  the 
Holy    Ghost    are    identified.      In    II.    Timothy 

3  33 


The  Holy  Trinity 

3 ;  16,  it  is  said,  "Every  Scripture  inspired  of  God 
is  also  profitable  for  teaching,"  etc.  In  II.  Peter 
1 :  21,  we  read,  "For  no  prophecy  ever  came  by  the 
will  of  man:  but  men  spake  from  God,  being 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  "organs  of  reve- 
lation," who  have  given  ns  the  Scriptures,  in  one 
case,  are  said  to  be  inspired  by  God;  in  the  other, 
the  writers  are  said  to  have  been  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  showing  that  one  and  the  same  being 
are  denoted  by  "God"  and  the  "Holy  Ghost."  In 
I.  Corinthians  3:16,  the  Apostle  Paul  says, 
"Know  ye  not  that  ye  are  a  temple  of  God,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  ?"  A  temple  of 
God  is  a  sanctuary  in  which  God  dwells  and  mani- 
fests himself,  but  it  is  immediately  subjoined,  that 
"the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you,"  the  two  forms 
of  expression  again  designating  the  same  being; 
that  is,  in  all  these  passages  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
called  God. 

(2)  He  is  identified  with  the  "Jehovah"  of  the 
Old  Testament.  In  the  great  vision  described  in 
Isaiah  6,  when  the  prophet  saw  the  Lord  sitting 
upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  he  was  greatly 
agitated,  and  said,  "Woe  is  me !  .  .  .  for  mine 
eyes  have  seen  the  King,  Jehovah  of  hosts."    In 

34 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Acts  28 :  25,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  identified  with  this 
Jehovah  of  hosts — "Well  spake  the  Holy  Ghost 
by  Isaiah,"  etc.  A  comparison  of  Jeremiah  31: 
31-34,  with  Hebrews  10: 15-17,  furnishes  another 
example  of  a  like  kind. 

2.  Divine  perfections  are  also  ascribed  to  him, 
such  as  omnipresence  (Ps.  139 :  7-10;  Kom.  8 :  26, 
27) ;  omniscience,  or  all  knowledge  (Isa.  40: 13, 
14;  I.  Cor.  2 :  10,  11)  ;  omnipotence,  or  all  power, 
and  eternity. 

3.  Divine  works  are  ascribed  to  him,  such  as 
creation  (Gen.  1:2;  Job  26:13;  33:4);  regen- 
eration (John  3:5,  6;  Titus  3:5);  the  power  of 
miracles  (I.  Cor.  12:9-11);  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  (I.  Pet.  3: 18;  Eom.  8: 11). 

4.  Divine  worship  is  paid  to  him.  (Compare 
Isa.  6 :  3-9,  with  Acts  18  :  25 ;  Rom.  9  : 1 ;  II.  Cor. 
13:14.) 

5.  Both  his  distinct  personality  and  his  divine 
nature  are  exhibited  by  the  way  in  which  the  di- 
vine and  personal  qualities  of  intelligence,  voli- 
tion, and  distinct  agency  are  ascribed  to  him.  He 
has  knowledge,  for  he  "searcheth  the  deep  things 
of  God.  "Even  so  the  things  of  God  none  know- 
eth,  save  the   Spirit  of   God."     He  testifies   of 

35 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Christ :  "He  shall  testify  of  me,"  said  Jesus.  He 
takes  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  shows  them  to 
his  disciples.  He  is  sent;  he  goes;  he  teaches, 
guides,  and  comforts.  He  reproves,  glorifies,  in- 
tercedes— "The  Spirit  himself  maketh  interces- 
sion." At  the  time  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  when 
John  and  Jesus  came  up  out  of  the  Jordan,  the 
Father  spake  in  audible  voice,  "This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  in  a  bodily 
form,  as  a  dove,  upon  him."  It  is  also  said  that 
the  "Spirit  himself  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God."  "The 
Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity."  "Grieve  not 
the  Holy  Spirit."  In  regard  to  the  diversity  of 
spiritual  endowments,  it  is  said,  "But  all  these 
worketh  the  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  dividing 
to  each  one  severally  even  as  he  will."  From 
all  these  considerations  of  divine  names  given 
him,  divine  attributes  assigned  him,  divine  works 
ascribed  to  him,  divine  worship  accorded  to  him, 
and  these  personal  properties  and  acts  attributed 
to  hinf,  the  conclusion  seems  inevitable  that  he  is 
a  divine,  personal  being,  just  as  much  so  as  Christ 
or  the  Father,  or,  that  God  was  in  the  Spirit. 
There   are,   of  course,   passages   of  scripture   in 

36 


The  Holy  Trinity 

which  God  is  said  to  be  spirit,  or  is  called  the 
Spirit  of  God,  without  explicit  reference  to  the 
threefold  distinction,  as  when  Christ  says,  "God 
is  a  Spirit."  But  these  do  not  contradict  the  pas- 
sages quoted  and  referred  to  above,  in  which  the 
distinction  is  certainly  made. 

VI.    God  the  Father,  Son^,  and  Holy 
Spirit. 

Thus  far,  the  effort  has  been  made  to  find  what 
the  scriptural  representations  are  with  respect  to 
God,  in  the  manner  in  which  the  revelations  were 
made  to  men.  These  representations  or  elements 
are  now  to  be  brought  together  to  discover  their 
relations  and  bring  them  into  a  unity,  for  only 
thus  shall  we  have  the  whole  truth.  As  in  a  nat- 
ural science,  the  different  classes  of  facts  must  be 
brought  together  to  discover  their  relations  and 
combine  them  into  a  unity,  which  alone  gives  true 
knowledge,  so  we  are  compelled  to  do  with  respect 
to  the  facts  revealed  in  Scripture.  The  human 
mind  cannot  rest  satisfied  with  the  mere  accumu- 
lation of  facts  or  truths.  One  set  or  class  of 
truths  modify  and  explain  another  set  of  truths, 
and  it  is  only  when  these  are  properly  subordi- 

37 


The  Holy  Trinity 

nated  and  systematized  that  we  can  be  sure  we 
have  the  real  truth. 

Surveying  what  we  have  thus  far  discovered 
concerning  the  Scripture  representations  of  God, 
we  find  the  following  elements  are  thus  to  be  com- 
bined: "First,  the  oneness  and  onliness  of  God. 
Second,  the  three  eternal  distinctions  or  modes  of 
being  of  the  one  only  God,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Third,  the  proper  deity  of  each 
of  the  three ;  that  is,  God  the  one  indivisible  abso- 
lute spirit  in  each  of  these  peculiar  and  eternal 
modes  of  being"  (Harris). 

First  of  all,  the  doctrine  that  there  is  only  one 
God  is  to  be  held  fast  with  strict  firmness.  There 
are  not  three  Gods,  though  the  numerous  scrip- 
ture passages  quoted  do  set  before  us  that  the 
Father  is  God,  that  Christ  is  God,  and  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  God.  The  opponents  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  tell  us  this  gives  us  three  gods ;  but 
substantially  the  whole  church,  in  all  her  forms 
and  divisions,  namely,  the  Eoman  Catholic,  the 
Greek,  and  the  Protestant,  has  held  as  emphatic- 
ally as  the  Unitarians  to  the  doctrine  of  only  one 
God.  Our  United  Brethren  creed  says,  *^e  be- 
lieve in  the  only  true  God,  the  Father,  the  Son, 

38 


The  Holy  Trinity 

and  the  Holy  Ghost;  that  these  three  are  one/' 
So  the  Westminster  Catechism  says  these  three 
"are  one  true  eternal  God,  the  same  in  substance^ 
equal  in  power  and  glory."  The  Athanasian 
creed,  accepted  by  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike, 
says,  "There  are  not  three  gods,  but  one  God." 
So  innumerable  theologians  and  biblical  scholars 
have  taught.  The  great  creeds  which  have  been 
the  platform  upon  which  the  three  great  divisions 
of  the  church  have  always  stood; — ^namely,  the 
Nicene  Creed,  of  A.  D.  325,  the  creed  formed  at 
Constantinople  in  381,  and  the  Athanasian,  of 
the  eighth  century, — make  this  very  emphatic. 
By  this  they  mean  that  there  is  no  divisibility  of 
the  divine  substance,  that  the  numerically  one  and 
same  substance  or  essence  belongs  to  the  Father 
and  to  the  Son  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Uni- 
tarians explain  this  phenomenon  by  saying  that 
God  is,  in  an  absolute  sense,  one ;  that  there  is  no 
distinction  to  be  made  in  the  Godhead  at  all ;  that 
when  God  acts  in  one  relation  to  the  universe  or  to 
man,  he  is  called  Father,  when  he  acts  in  another 
relation,  say  as  redeemer,  he  is  called  the  Son,  and 
when  he  acts  in  the  relation  of  sanctifier,  guide,  or 
comforter,  he  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit.     This  is 

39 


The  Holy  Trinity 

called  the  economic  Trinity.  But  the  Bible 
teaches  more  than  this;  namely,  that  there  is  a 
distinction  in  the  Godhead  itself,  corresponding  to 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit. 

There  is,  then,  in  the  biblical  conception  of  God 
not  only  the  idea  of  oneness  and  onliness,  but  also 
the  idea  of  threeness.  The  one  God,  indivisible 
in  his  substance  or  essence,  exists  in  three  modes 
of  being,  expressed  by  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit.  The  word  by  which  at  once  this  unity  and 
these  distinctions  are  sought  to  be  expressed  is  the 
word  "Trinity,"  which  means  triunity.  The  three 
modes  or  distinctions  in  the  being  of  God  may  be, 
and  have  been  variously  named  "personalities," 
"individualities,"  "hypostases,"  or  "subsistences." 
Very  generally  they  have  been  spoken  of  as  "per- 
sons." "God  is  not  three  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  he  is  one."  The  threeness  here  spoken  of 
is  necessary  to  his  oneness  or  unity.  There  are 
not  three  different  beings  constituting  one  being, 
as  three  men  constitute  a  committee.  The  com- 
mittee is  one,  a  unit,  though  composed  of  three 
different  men.  God  is  numerically  one  as  to  being 
and  essence,  subsisting  as  three  persons.  Says  Dr. 
Townsend :  "If  either  one  of  the  personalities  is 
40 


The  Holy  Trinity 

omitted  from  the  Godhead,  there  can  be  no  God. 
The  Father,  without  both  the  Logos  (the  Word  or 
Son)  and  the  Spirit,  would  not  be  God.  The 
Logos,  without  both  the  Father  and  the  Spirit, 
would  not  be  God.  The  Spirit,  without  both  the 
Father  and  the  Logos,  would  not  be  God."  "These 
three  personalities,  according  to  the  Bible,  are  of 
such  a  character  that  they  do  not  in  the  least  con- 
tradict the  eternal  unity  of  the  Godhead." 

Before  proceeding  to  define  the  term  "person," 
let  us  turn  once  more  to  the  Scripture  to  see 
whether  the  three  representations  of  God  as 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  are  used  in  such 
relations  to  one  another  as  to  suggest  at  once  this 
oneness  and  threeness,  bearing  all  the  while  in 
mind  the  direct  and  express  declarations  of  Scrip- 
ture of  the  "oneness"  and  "onliness"  of  God.  The 
term,  "Trinity,"  does  not  occur  in  the  Bible,  but 
has  been  in  use  among  Christians  from  the  second 
century  of  our  Lord.  Neither  does  the  word 
"person"  occur  as  applied  to  these  distinctions  in 
the  Godhead. 

1.  The  baptismal  formula,  in  the  last  com- 
mand of  our  Lord,  "Baptizing  them  into  the  name 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 

41 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Ghost."  Jesus  does  not  say  "into  the  names/' 
plural,  but  "into  the  name/'  singular,  pointing  us 
to  a  single  Being.  Dr.  Stier  says,  "The  three  per- 
sons of  the  one  divine  nature  stand  here  together; 
their  unity  is  held  fast  and  witnessed  by  the  name, 
not  names/'^  Professor  Christlieb  says,  "The  sin- 
gular term,  in  the  name,  indicates  that  these  per- 
sons are  yet  essentially  one;  not  three  different 
beings  or  separate  individuals."^  On  the  other 
hand,  three  persons  seem  to  be  as  clearly  implied. 
No  one  doubts  that  the  Father  is  a  person.  "The 
Son"  must  also  be  a  person,  for  no  impersonal  be- 
ing or  thing  would  be  called  "the  Son."  Here  are 
at  least  two  persons.  "Holy  Ghost"  must  be  a  per- 
son or  an  influence  or  a  power  or  an  attribute. 
The  most  natural  and  reasonable  conclusion  is, 
that  if  the  first  two  terms  denote  persons,  the  third 
does,  also.  Otherwise,  we  should  have  the  ab- 
surdity of  baptizing  a  subject  into  the  name  of  two 
persons  and  of  a  thing,  an  influence,  or  power, 
putting  these  all  into  the  same  relation  to  the  per- 
son baptized.  How  absurd  would  the  command 
be  to  baptize  all  nations  into  the  name  of  God  and 
of  Paul  and  of  the  power  or  the  goodness  of  God ! 

'  "Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  in  Matt.  29: 19. 

2  "  Modern  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,"  p.  254. 

42 


The  Holy  Trinity 

2.  Consider  the  apostolic  benediction,  "The 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be 
with  you  all."  Jesus  Christ  was  surely  a  person; 
God  was  also  a  person.  Supposing  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  be  a  mere  man,  or  even  a  more  exalted 
creature,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  a  mere  attribute  or 
influence,  what  a  jumble  we  have  here.  Then 
Paul  prays  that  the  love  of  God,  the  Divine  One, 
and  the  favor  of  Christ,  a  man  or  some  other  crea- 
ture, and  the  fellowship  of  a  mere  impersonal  at- 
tribute or  influence  may  be  with  these  Corinthian 
Christians.  This  is  unintelligible.  But  if  they 
are  all  coequal  divine  persons,  the  language  is  per- 
fectly clear  and  intelligible.  Albert  Barnes  says, 
"This  passage  furnishes  proof  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  that  has  not  yet  been  answered,  and 
it  is  believed  cannot  be." 

8.  '7  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give 
you  another  Comforter/*  Here  Christ,  the  Son, 
prays  the  Father  that  he  will  send  another  Com- 
forter in  place  of  Christ,  soon  to  leave  his  dis- 
ciples. Who  this  Comforter  is  appears  from  the 
context,  "Even  the  Spirit  of  truth;  whom  the 
world  cannot  receive;  for  it  beholdeth  him  not, 

43 


The  Holy  Trinity 

neither  knoweth  him:  ye  know  him;  for  he  abid- 
eth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you."  The  Com- 
forter, then,  is  the  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  would 
give  to  the  disciples,  whom  they  could  know,  and 
who  should  dwell  in  them.  This  Spirit  must, 
therefore,  be  a  person  distinct  from  Christ  and 
from  the  Father.  The  word  is  distinct,  not  sep- 
arate, from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

4.  "For  through  him  [Christ]  we  both  have 
access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father"  (Eph.  2: 
18).  Bishop  Ellicott,  one  of  the  most  discreet 
and  able  of  expositors,  says,  "The  mention  of  the 
three  persons  in  the  blessed  Trinity,  with  the  three 
prepositions,  through,  in,  unto,  is  especially  no- 
ticeable and  distinct."  Dr.  Pope  holds,  "This 
great  word  is  the  key  to  the  general  strain  of  the 
Epistles,  and  if  pursued  into  its  consequences,  is 
sufficient  to  establish  the  divinity  of  each  person." 

Now,  what  is  a  person?  In  popular  usage,  a 
person  is  a  human  being.  Calderwood,  in  his 
^^Moral  Philosophy,"  defines  person  as  "a  self- 
conscious  intelligence,  capable  of  self-determina- 
tion." John  Locke,  the  great  English  philos- 
opher, says,  "A  person  is  a  thinking,  intelligent 
being,  that  has  reason  and  reflection,  and  can  con- 

44 


The  Holy  Trinity 

sider  itself  as  itself,  the  same  thinking  thing  in 
different  times  and  different  places."  Boethius 
defines  person  as  "the  indivisible  substance  of  a 
rational  nature."  These  are  philosophical  def- 
initions, and  it  is  not  exactly  in  any  of  these 
senses  that  the  word  "person"  is  used  with  respect 
to  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  as  distinct  from 
one  another.  In  the  sense  of  Boethius,  the  term 
"person"  is  applicable  only  to  Godhead  as  such; 
that  is,  in  his  sense,  there  cannot  be  three  persons 
in  the  Godhead,  but  one  only.  The  term,  "per- 
son," it  should  be  noted,  is  not  to  be  taken  in  the 
sense  of  attribute,  nor  as  a  mere  manifestation. 
It  is  used  in  a  technical,  theological  sense.  It 
does  not  strictly  fit  to  the  facts,  and  yet  appears 
to  be  the  best  term  in  human  language  to  embody 
the  conception  we  are  seeking  to  express.  Pro- 
fessor Shedd  says:  "It  [person]  is  intermediate 
between  substance  and  attributes.  It  is  not  iden- 
tical with  substance,  for  there  are  not  three  sub- 
stances. It  is  not  identical  with  attribute,  for 
the  three  persons  each  and  equally  possess  all  the 
divine  attributes.  Hence  the  human  mind  is 
called  upon  to  grasp  the  notion  of  a  species  of 
existence  that  is  totally  sui  generis  [of  its  own 

45 


The  Holy  Trinity 

kind],  and  not  capable  of  illustration  by  any  of 
the  ordinary  comparisons  and  illustrations."^  Dr. 
Philip  Schaff  speaks  of  the  word  "person"  as  "a 
mere  makeshift,  in  the  absence  of  a  more  adequate 
term." 

The  truth  seems  to  be  that  our  conception  of 
God  is  deeper  and  truer  than  we  have  language 
to  express,  or,  as  Schaff  says,  "the  essence  and 
character  of  God  far  transcend  our  highest  ideas." 
Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  one  of  the  clearest  of  think- 
ers, says,  "A  person  is  an  intelligent  subject,  who 
can  say,  I,  who  can  be  addressed  as  thou,  and  who 
can  act  and  be  the  object  of  action."  In  this 
sense,  each  of  the  three  modes  of  existence  in  the 
Godhead  is  a  person.  The  Father  is  represented 
in  Scripture  as  saying  of  himself,  "I,"  he  is  ad- 
dressed as  "thou,"  and  is  spoken  of  as  ^^le."  So 
of  the  Son,  the  three  personal  pronouns,  "I," 
"thou,"  "he,"  are  legitimate  and  essential.  It  is 
just  as  true  that  the  same  forms  of  personal  ex- 
pression, "I,"  "thou,"  "he,"  are  legitimately  and 
essentially  applied  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  the  great  Augustine 
(A.  D.  430),  the  human  mind  has  been  taken  as 

>  "History  of  Christian  Doctrine,"  Vol.  1.,  p.  365. 
40 


The  Holy  Trinity 

probably  the  best  created  object  with  which  to 
illustrate  the  fact  of  the  Trinity,  as  far  as  any 
created  object  may  illustrate  it.  The  recent  forms 
of  the  illustration  differ  from  his,  and  are  more 
abstruse,  but  are  by  many  thought  to  serve  the 
purpose  better.  The  illustration  is  taken  from 
self-consciousness.  In  every  act  of  knowledge 
there  are  three  factors.  When  I  take  knowledge 
of  an  apple,  for  instance,  the  first  factor  is  my 
mind,  or  I;  the  second  is  the  apple;  the  third  is 
the  connection  or  relation  between  the  I  and  the 
apple,  which  is  called  knowledge.  In  self-con- 
sciousness, or  self-knowledge,  there  are  likewise 
three  factors:  First,  the  I  knowing;  second,  the 
I  known;  the  third,  again,  the  connection  or  re- 
lation between  the  first  I  and  the  second  I.  That 
is,  I  seem  to  stand  off  to  look  at  myself.  I  make 
myself  the  object  of  inspection.  The  I  knowing 
is  the  same  identically  as  the  I  known,  and  there 
is,  thirdly,  that  mysterious  third  thing,  the  per- 
sonal recognition.  Dr.  Dorner  says,  "Actual  spirit 
is  itself  this  mediation"  between  the  thinker  and 
the  thought.  Now,  it  is  held  by  many  of  the  lat- 
est and  profoundest  writers  that  the  phenomenon 
of  our  own  self-consciousness  may  help  us  to  rise 

47 


The  Holy  Trinity 

at  least  a  single  step  toward  the  comprehension 
of  the  Trinity.  The  Father  is  represented  by  the 
subject,  or  first  I;  the  Son  is  represented  by  the 
object,  or  second  I;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  repre- 
sented by  the  third  element,  the  connecting  link, 
or  the  "mediation."  According  to  our  common 
notion,  a  person  is  a  human  being.  Every  sane 
person  possesses  self -consciousness  or  self-knowl- 
edge, in  which  these  three  elements  or  factors 
above  referred  to  are  present.  Self-consciousness 
is  essential  to  personality.  If  there  were  no  I  to 
think,  there  would  be  no  person;  if  this  I  could 
not  contemplate  itself,  there  could  be  no  self -con- 
sciousness; and  if  there  were  not  the  bond  by 
which  the  first  I  and  the  second  I  were  known  to 
be  the  same,  there  would  be  no  self-consciousness. 
These  three  elements  are  hence  necessary  to  per- 
sonality. A  horse  or  a  dog  is  not  called  a  person, 
because  he  has  no  self-consciousness.  Such  deep 
and  famous  writers  as  Dorner,  Christlieb, 
Delitzsch,  and  Miiller,  of  Europe,  and  Shedd  and 
Gerhart,  in  this  country,  therefore,  hold,  if  there 
were  not  in  the  Godhead,  in  a  modified  sense, 
some  such  threefold  elements,  there  could  be  no 
personal  God  at  all.    That  is,  deny  the  idea  of  the 

48 


The  Holy  Trinity 

Trinity,  and  you  rob  yourself  of  the  idea  of  a 
self-conscious,  that  is,  a  personal  God.  Of  course, 
this  illustration  is  imperfect,  as  all  illustrations 
on  this  subject  must  be.  The  making  myself  the 
object  of  contemplation  is  only  a  mental  act, 
whereas  in  God  ''perfect  self-knowledge  is  pos- 
sible," says  Dr.  Dorner,  "inasmuch  as  he  really 
transfuses  himself  into  his  image."  Now  look  in 
the  Eevised  Version  at  Hebrews  1:3;  referring 
to  the  Son,  the  writer  says,  "Who  being  the  efful- 
gence of  his  [God's]  glory,  and  the  very  image  of 
his  substance/'  Lack  of  space  forbids  my  giving 
another  illustration  from  the  mental  constitution 
of  man,  which  consists  of  intellect,  sensibility, 
and  will.  Any  who  may  wish  to  see  an  excellent 
presentation  of  it  are  referred  to  Dr.  Harris's 
"God  Creator  and  Lord  of  All,"  Vol.  1,  pp.  334, 
335.  This  doctrine  of  three  persons  in  the  God- 
head may  be  called  the  "essential"  or  the  "imma- 
nent Trinity." 

VII.   Personal  Properties  of  the  Three 
Persons. 

It  has  been  shown  that  there  is  but  one  divine 
spiritual  substance  belonging  equally  to  each  of 

4  49 


The  Holy  Trinity 

the  three  persons;  also,  that  all  the  divine  attri- 
butes belong  equally  to  each  of  the  three  persons ; 
also,  that  all  the  divine  attributes  belong  equally 
to  each.  Yet  these  three  are  not  in  every  respect 
the  same,  each  as  the  other.  They  are  distin- 
guished by  certain  "properties."  There  belongs 
to  each  of  the  three  persons  a  characteristic  indi- 
viduality, or  peculiarity,  called  in  Greek  idiot es, 
or  "property,"  which  is  his  own  exclusively,  and 
cannot  be  transferred  from  one  to  another.  To 
the  first  person  belongs  the  property  of  paternity, 
or  fatherhood,  himself  unbegotten,  but  begetting 
the  Son;  to  the  Son  belongs  the  filial  property  of 
being  begotten;  to  the  Holy  Spirit  belongs  the 
property  of  procession — ^he  proceeds  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  Jesus  said,  "Even  the 
Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from  the 
Father."  The  "properties,"  as  they  are  called,  are 
not  attributes.  Attributes  are  inherent  in  the  di- 
vine essence  which  is  common  to  all  the  "per- 
sons." "Property"  pertains  not  to  the  essence  or 
substance  of  the  Divine  Being,  but  is  peculiar  to 
each  "person."  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  puts  it  thus: 
"Notwithstanding  that  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Spirit  are  the  same  in  substance,  and  equal  in 

50 


The  Holy  Trinity 

power  and  glory,  it  is  no  less  true,  according  to 
the  Scriptures,  (1)  that  the  Father  is  first,  the 
Son  second,  and  the  Spirit  third;  (2)  the  Son  is 
of  the  Father,  and  the  Spirit  is  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son;  (3)  the  Father  sends  the  Son,  and  the 
Father  and  Son  send  the  Spirit;  (4)  the  Father 
operates  through  the  Son,  and  the  Father  and 
Son  operate  through  the  Spirit."  The  "begetting" 
and  the  "proceeding"  are  not  acts  done  in  time 
and  once  for  all,  but  are  to  be  regarded  as  eternal 
facts  or  relations.  "These  relations  are  not  such," 
says  Delitzsch,  "that  the  Son  could  at  any  time 
be  so  begotten  of  the  Father  as  that  he  should  be 
begotten  of  him  no  more;  nor  that  the  Spirit 
should  at  any  time  have  proceeded  from  both,  so 
as  that  he  should  proceed  no  more;  but  these 
are  everlasting  facts,  which,  if  eternity  be  con- 
ceived as  a  duration  without  a  beginning  or 
end,  are  apprehended  as  in  enduring  hecoming/' 
and  yet  in  a  sense  completed.  These  relations 
are  clearly  enough  taught  by  the  Scriptures,  and 
have  been,  in  the  main,  held  and  taught  as  doc- 
trines by  the  church  ever  since  A.  D.  325 ;  but  as 
to  their  nature,  it  is  admitted  to  be  incomprehen- 


51 


The  Holy  Trinity 

sible.  Yet  this  is  nothing  against  receiving  them, 
provided  no  palpable  contradiction  is  involved. 
The  Bible  teaches  that  God  is  an  infinite,  omni- 
present, personal  spirit,  which  is  absolutely  in- 
comprehensible to  finite  minds,  but  yet  is  uni- 
versally received  by  theists. 


VIII.   Trinity  in  the  Old  Testament. 

It  has  been  noticed  by  the  attentive  reader  that 
nearly  all  the  Scripture  quotations  in  this  discus- 
sion, excepting  on  the  oneness  of  God  and  a  few 
on  God  as  Father,  have  been  taken  from  the  New 
Testament.  Is  this  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  not 
taught  by  the  Old  Testament  ?  Yes,  but  not  with 
such  distinctness  and  emphasis  as  in  the  New. 
All  the  doctrines  of  revelation  are  probably  in  the 
Old  Testament,  but  some  of  them  in  germ,  or  in 
an  undeveloped  form.  There  was  an  evolution  in 
revelation,  a  slow  and  gradual  unfolding  of  the 
truths  made  known,  little  by  little.  No  one  doc- 
trine is  all  at  once  and  once  for  all  presented  to 
the  world.  The  history  of  the  race  is  analogous 
to  that  of  an  individual  person;  it  has  its  suc- 
cessive periods  of  infancy,  childhood,  youth^  man- 

52 


The  Holy  Trinity 

hood.  As  in  literature,  art,  philosophy,  science, 
civilization,  so  in  religion,  even  the  true  religion, 
there  has  been  growth  or  development  from  small, 
germlike  beginnings,  which  received  additions  or 
were  unfolded  as  the  ages  passed.  Two  and  a  half 
centuries  ago,  Calixtus,  the  distinguished  Luth- 
eran professor  at  Helmstadt,  timidly  asked 
whether  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  could  be 
proved  from  the  Old  Testament  alone.  The  em- 
phasis in  the  Old  Testament  is  laid  on  the  unity 
or  "onliness"  of  God, — in  the  law,  in  the  ritual, 
and  even  in  prophecy, — because  the  tendency  of 
man  estranged  from  God  has  ever  been  toward 
polytheism  and  idolatry.  With  all  the  stringent 
measures  against  these  sins,  the  chosen  people 
could  hardly  be  restrained.  Van  Oosterzee  truly 
says,  "The  Israelitish  monotheism  would  probably 
have  suffered  more  loss  than  it  would  have  derived 
benefit  from  the  untimely  disclosure  of  this  truth." 
Professor  Christlieb  thinks  God  "gave  at  least 
manifold  hints  of  it  in  the  names  and  words  and 
facts  of  the  ancient  Scriptures."  Dr.  Gerhart 
holds  that  the  "Old  Testament  unity  foreshadows 
New  Testament  triunity."  The  order  of  revela- 
tion was^  firsts  the  unity  or  onliness  of  God,  or 

53 


The  Eoly  Trinity 

God  in  the  Father;  this  in  the  Old  Testament, 
particularly.  Second,  God  in  Christ  in  the  Gos- 
pels, the  Epistles  being  expansions  and  explica- 
tions of  the  teachings  or  truths  in  the  Gospels. 
Third,  God  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  Book  of 
Acts  and  the  Epistles. 

1.  It  was  once  mnch  the  fashion  to  find  proof 
of  the  Trinity  in  the  plural  names  and  titles  of 
God  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures — Elohim  for  God, 
Adonai  for  Lord,  El  Shaddai  for  God  Almighty. 
So  in  the  Hebrew  of  Ecclesiastes  12 : 1,  it  is,  "Ee- 
member  now  thy  Creators" ;  Proverbs  9:10,  ^^The 
knowledge  of  the  Holy  Ones  is  understanding"; 
Proverbs  30:3,  "Knowledge  of  the  Holy  Ones"; 
Isaiah  54:5,  "Thy  makers  (are)  thy  husbands.^^ 
Not  nearly  so  much  stress  is  laid  on  these  plural 
forms  now,  because  they  have  come  to  be  regarded 
as  instances  of  what  the  Hebrew  grammars  call 
the  "plural  of  majesty,"  to  suggest  "the  idea  of 
exaltation  or  greatness,"  somewhat  as  we  speak 
of  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  this  being  more 
expressive  than  the  singular  form. 

In  Genesis  1 :  26,  God  says,  "Let  us  make  man 
in  our  image,  after  our  likeness,"  and  in  Genesis 
3 :  22,  "Behold,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us." 

54 


The  Holy  Trinity 

These  may  also  be  taken  as  idiomatic  peculiari- 
ties, and  yet  the  great  Hebrew  scholar,  Professor 
JDelitzsch,  thinks  that  "God,  speaking  .  .  . 
with  reference  to  the  fullness  of  the  divine  powers 
and  essences  which  he  possesses,"  is  to  be  under- 
stood as  intimating  "the  truth  which  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  the  trinitarian  view/'  Dr.  Gerhart 
puts  it  cautiously,  thus,  "That  the  primary  forms 
of  supernatural  revelation  and  of  human  appre- 
hension contain  features  which,  though  indistinct, 
even  unintelligible  to  the  people  of  God  during 
pre-Christian  ages  of  their  history,  are  neverthe- 
less typical  of  the  constitution  of  the  Godhead  as 
revealed  in  Jesus  Christ." 

2.  The  high-priestly  benediction  in  Numbers 
6 :  24-27,  is  appealed  to,  "Jehovah  bless  thee,  and 
keep  thee;  Jehovah  make  his  face  to  shine  upon 
thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee;  Jehovah  lift  up 
his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace." 

3.  The  trisagion,  as  it  is  called,  in  Isaiah  6: 
3,  where  the  seraphim  call  out,  "Holy,  holy,  holy 
is  Jehovah  of  hosts,"  is  also  by  many  quoted  as 
pointing  in  the  same  direction. 

4.  Other  passages  are  quoted  as  containing 
like   intimations;   for   example:      (1)  Those   in 

55 


The  Holy  Trinity 

which  God  is  distinguished  from  God,  as  subject 
and  object.  "Jehovah  rained  brimstone  and  fire 
from  Jehovah."  "0  our  God,  hear  the  prayer 
of  thy  servant,  for  the  Lord's  sake/'  (3)  Those 
in  which  three  persons  may  be  hinted  at.  (Isa. 
48:16.)  (3)  The  passages  on  the  angel  of  Je- 
hovah. The  angel  of  Jehovah  is  identified  with 
Jehovah  and  with  God,  and  accepts  worship  due 
only  to  deity.  (See  Genesis  22:11,  16;  31:11, 
13;  and  especially  Exodus  3:  2-18.)  But  serious 
objections  may  be  offered  against  all  of  these  pas- 
sages taken  singly.  (4)  Old  Testament  passages 
in  which  divine  names  and  works  are  ascribed  to 
the  Messiah:  "For  unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto 
us  a  son  is  given:  and  the  government  shall  be 
upon  his  shoulder;  and  his  name  shall  be  called 
Wonderful,  Counsellor,  Mighty  God,  Everlasting 
Father  [that  is,  as  in  Hebrew,  the  Father  of  Eter- 
nity], Prince  of  Peace."  This  is  undoubtedly  a 
Messianic  passage.  The  Messiah  was  the  anointed 
of  God,  sent  of  God,  yet  the  "Mighty  God,  Father 
of  Eternity,"  etc.  Psalms  45 :  6,  7 :  "Thy  throne, 
0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever.  .  .  .  Therefore 
God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee."  (See  also 
Micah  5  :  2,  and  Malachi  3:1.)     In  these,  and  like 

56 


The  Holy  Trinity 

passages,  the  Messiah  is  represented  as  one  with 
Jehovah,  or  God,  and  yet,  in  some  sense,  distinct 
from  him.  Many  expositors  refer  us,  also,  to 
Genesis  1: 1-3.  God  creates  (v.  1) ;  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  brooding  over  the  abyss  (v.  2) ;  the  Word 
of  God  creates  light,  "And  God  said.  Let  there 
be  light."  Gerhart  says  of  this,  "Certainly  there 
are  no  personal  distinctions  expressed  by  this 
sublime  language,  but  we  may  discern  in  it  just 
that  faint  manifestation  of  triune  energy  which 
the  idea  of  an  objective  historical  revelation  pre- 
supposes." The  very  cautious  Dr.  Knapp  says, 
"It  appears  that  no  one  of  the  passages  cited  from 
the  Old  Testament  in  proof  of  the  Trinity  is  con- 
clusive, when  taken  by  itself;  but  .  .  .  when 
they  are  all  taken  together,  they  convey  the  im- 
pression that  at  least  a  plurality  in  the  Godhead 
was  obscurely  indicated  in  the  Jewish  Scrip- 
tures."^ 

IX.  "Collateral  Supports.'* 

While  it  is  impossible,  in  a  brief  compass,  to 
bring  together  all  the  biblical  material  bearing 
on  this  question,  enough,  it  is  believed,  has  been 
given  to  show  that  the  Bible  does  represent  the 

>"  Christian  Theology,"  p.  133. 
57 


The  Holy  Trinity 

one  God  as  existing  in  a  triunity — one  being  in 
three  hypostases,  or  persons,  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit.  But,  in  addition,  there  is  outside 
of  the  Bible  a  considerable  number  of  what  Pro- 
fessor Christlieb  calls  "collateral  supports,"  which, 
while  they  do  not  rank  as  positive  proofs, — for 
these  are  to  be  looked  for  only  in  the  Bible, — 
may  yet,  perhaps,  not  inappropriately  be  called 
corroborative  proofs. 

1.  The  trinitarian  conception,  in  some  form, 
is  common  to  almost  all  religions  and  mythologies. 
Hence,  Christlieb  says,  "A  trinity  of  deities  is 
common  to  all  nations."  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
in  his  "Ten  Great  Eeligions," — and  he  is  a  Uni- 
tarian writer, — speaks  of  the  "triads  in  all  reli- 
gions." I  subjoin  some  quotations  from  his  great 
work.  In  the  Hindu  religion  it  is  Para-Brahm, 
Siva,  and  Vishnu.  "This  is  the  Hindu  Trinity — 
the  Trimurti.  Its  holy,  inexpressible  name  is  the 
sacred  triliteral  word  A  U  M." 

"A  series  of  triad  deities  were  also  worshiped 
in  Assyria,  and  another  in  Babylon.  In  Assyria, 
the  highest  triad  was:  (1)  Cannes,  Chaos;  (2) 
Bel,  he  who  gives  form  to  Chaos;  (3)  A  0  or  Bin, 
the  Son,  representing  the  world  as  formed." 

58 


The  Holy  Trinity 

"The  object  of  worship  in  Buddhism  is  also  a 
triad,  consisting  of:  (1)  Buddha,  the  Supreme 
Being;  (2)  Dharma,  the  law;  and  (3)  Sangha, 
the  associated  priesthood." 

"In  Egypt,  the  gods  were  all  grouped  in  triads, 
and  a  separate  triad  was  worshiped  in  each  city; 
at  Thebes,  Amun,  Maut,  and  Khons ;  at  Memphis, 
Ptah,  Pasht,  and  their  son ;  elsewhere,  Osiris,  Isis, 
Horus.'^ 

In  speaking  of  one  of  the  ancient  Chinese  re- 
ligions. Dr.  Clarke  remarks:  "Another  passage 
says :  ^These  inscrutable  three  are  but  one.'  ^The 
Tao  produced  one,  one  produced  two;  the  two 
produced  three,  the  three  produced  all  things.' " 

"Plato  held  that  God  is  threefold :  first,  as  the 
profound,  inscrutable  substance  and  cause  of  all 
things ;  next,  as  manifesting  himself  in  the  ideas, 
which  are  the  roots  in  the  spiritual  world  of  all 
that  exists  in  the  natural  world;  and,  thirdly,  as 
the  life  of  the  universe." 

"Not  only  Plato,  but  other  Greek  philosophers 
before  him,  .  .  .  conceived  of  the  Supreme 
Being  as  a  triad  in  a  monad."  "The  system  of 
Zoroaster  .  .  .  finally  assumed  a  triad  form.'' 
"Even  the  Jewish  mind,  when  it  began  to  philos- 

59 


The  Holy  Trinity 

ophize  in  Alexandria,  took  up  the  conception  of 
the  Deity  as  an  imperfect  triad.  This  was  espe- 
cially the  work  of  Philo."  "The  Gnostics  also 
held  to  a  triad."  Professor  Christlieb  tells  us,  in 
"Modern  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief/'  "In  the 
Celtic,  Germanic,  and  Slavic  mythology,  we  find 
the  same  idea  of  a  divine  Trinity;  amongst  the 
Irish  (Kriosan,  Biosena,  Siva),  Scandinavians 
(Thor,  Woden,  Friceo),  the  ancient  Prussians 
(Petrimpos,  Perkunos,  Pikullos),  the  Pomerani- 
ans and  the  Wends,  whose  god  was  named  Triglav, 
that  is,  the  three-headed.'^  "The  ancient  Ameri- 
cans worshiped  the  sun  under  three  images,  which 
they  called  Father,  Son,  Brother  Son.  One  of 
their  great  idols  was  called  Tangalanga;  that  is, 
One  in  Three  and  Three  in  One.  The  reader  can 
pursue  this  subject  further  in  the  works  of  Dr. 
Clarke,  Professor  Christlieb,  Dr.  Townsend,  and 
Knapp's  "Christian  Theology." 

It  is  remarkable  that  these  trinitarian  or  triadic 
conceptions  pervade  the  theology  of  almost  all  na- 
tions. The  philosopher  Schelling  held  that  "the 
philosophy  of  mythology  proves  that  a  trinity  of 
divine  potentialities  is  the  root  from  which  have 


60 


The  Holy  Trinity 

grown  the  religious  ideas  of  all  nations  of  any  im- 
portance known  to  us." 

The  idea  of  the  Trinity  was  held  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  substantially  from  the  beginning,  and 
in  express  formulae  from  the  time  of  the  Council 
of  Nice,  A.  D.  325.  Hagenbach,  in  his  "History 
of  Doctrine,"  tells  us,  "The  belief  in  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  belonged  to  the  regula  fidei 
(rule  of  faith)  in  the  primitive  church."  I  else- 
where have  collated  more  than  sixty  of  the  ac- 
knowledged historic  names  of  eminent  thinkers 
from  Anselm  on  who  stood  for  this  doctrine.  The 
list  might  have  been  indefinitely  increased ;  I  chose 
only  real  leaders  of  thought. 

2.  Speculative  theology  and  philosophy  give 
large  support  to  the  truth  and  necessity  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Eeference  need  only  be 
made  to  the  more  recent  theological  writings  of 
Nitzsch,  Dorner,  Delitzsch,  Martensen,  Gerhart, 
and  Shedd.  Dr.  Clarke's  references  to  Plato,  Par- 
menides,  Pythagoras,  the  Neoplatonists,  and 
Philo,  have  already  been  cited.  Add  to  these  the 
Christian  philosophers,  Athenagoras,  Hippolytus, 
Athanasius,  Augustine,  Eoscellinus,  Anselm, 
Aquinas,    Duns    Scotus,    Eckhart,    Cusanus,    the 

61 


The  Holy  Trinity 

pantheist  Spinoza,  Leibnitz,  Lessing,  Schelling, 
Baader,  and  Hegel.  Why  is  it  that  this  trinitarian 
idea  has  commended  itself  to  most  of  the  pro- 
f oundest  thinkers  of  our  race,  outside  the  pale  of 
the  church  as  well  as  within  it  ?  None  but  a  con- 
summate egotist  can  sneer  at  it. 

3.  Students  have  found  many  trinitarian  anal- 
ogies or  hints  in  nature.  Dr.  Townsend  shows 
that  a  view  of  the  physical  universe  under  so  skill- 
ful and  experienced  an  eye  as  that  of  Professor 
Huxley,  exhibits  to  us,  first,  "unity  of  substantial 
composition,"  that  is,  matter;  second,  "unity  of 
power,"  that  is,  force ;  and,  third,  "unity  of  f orm,^^ 
that  is,  law,  giving  us  the  trinitarian  formula: 
"Unity  of  substantial  composition,  unity  of  power, 
and  unity  of  form."  These  three  constitute  the 
universe.  Nothing  need  be  said  of  the  existence 
of  matter.  We  are  sufficiently  familiar  with  that. 
The  Duke  of  Argyle,  some  years  ago,  wrote  a  very 
able  book,  entitled  "The  Keign  of  Law."  Fichte, 
"one  of  the  profoundest  speculative  minds  Ger- 
many ever  produced,  affirms  that  this  'law  of  the 
universe'  is  God."  But  there  is  also  power  every- 
where. Thomas  Carlyle  exclaims:  "Force,  force, 
everywhere  force !    Illimitable  whirlwind  of  force 

62 


The  Holy  Trinity 

which  envelops  us;  everlasting  whirlwind,  high  as 
immensity,  old  as  eternity — what  is  it?"  Carlyle 
answers,  "It  is  Almighty  God."  Thus  we  have 
given  matter,  law,  force,  which  equals  the  uni- 
verse. 

Now  we  may  take  some  objects  in  nature,  for 
example,  the  plant:  It  consists  of  three  parts — 
root,  stalk,  leaves.  The  tree  consists  of  root, 
trunk,  and  leaves.  But,  still  further,  the  tree  con- 
sists of  matter  and  force  or  life,  which  builds  the 
tree,  and  law,  according  to  which  the  tree  is  built. 
The  heavenly  bodies  consist  of  matter;  they  are 
propelled  by  an  almighty  force,  and  always  accord- 
ing to  the  most  precise  and  rigid  laws.  In  every 
ray  of  light  there  are  three  elements :  The  light  ray, 
— luminosity, — the  heat  ray,  and  the  actinic  ray, 
which  is  the  chemical  force  of  the  ray,  and  is  dis- 
tinct but  not  separate  from  the  light  and  heat. 
Man,  especially  made  in  the  image  of  God,  is 
pointed  to  as  a  manifestation  of  this  trinality  in 
nature.  He  consists,  according  to  the  Pauline 
trichotomy,  of  body,  soul,  and  spirit.  Physically, 
he  consists  of  head,  trunk,  and  limbs.  The 
Frenchman  Delsarte,  studying  the  human  body 
solely  for  elocutionary  purposes,  found  the  whole 

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The  Holy  Trinity 

body  written  over  with  "trinitarian  symbols/'  the 
head  region,  the  heart  region,  and  the  abdominal 
region  corresponding  respectively  with  the  intel- 
lect, the  affections,  and  the  passions.  But  there 
are  found  the  same  triadic  characteristics  in  the 
head,  in  the  face,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  body. 
Take  the  arm;  it  consists  of  upper  arm,  forearm, 
and  hand.  The  hand  consists  of  wrist,  meta- 
carpus, or  middle  hand,  and  phalanges,  or  fingers. 
The  lower  limb  consists  of  thigh,  leg,  and  foot. 
The  arm  proper  has  three  bones,  the  humerus,  the 
ulna,  and  the  radius;  the  lower  limb,  or  leg 
proper,  also  has  three,  the  femur,  the  tibia,  and 
the  fibula.  The  trunk  consists  of  chest,  abdomen, 
and  pelvis. 

The  mind  of  man  furnishes  another  analogon. 
Psychologists  generally  make  here  a  threefold  di- 
vision into  intellect,  sensibility,  and  will.  "The 
soul  is  a  trinal  unity."  Dr.  Harris  takes  this  as 
the  best  illustration  of  the  divine  triunity.  Dr. 
Gerhart  goes  still  further  with  this  trinal  analogy 
in  the  mind.  Three  things  enter  into  the  nature 
of  freedom:  "(1)  Law  .  .  .  the  categorical 
imperative;  (2)  self-determination  or  choice; 
(3)  the  union  of  the  ethical  subject  with  the  ethi- 

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The  Holy  Trinity 

cal  object."  "Objective  knowledge  is  likewise 
trinal:  (a)  The  knowing  subject;  (&)  the  known 
object;  (c)  the  union  of  the  knowing  subject  with 
the  knowable  object."  The  trinal  nature  of  self- 
consciousness  has  been  spoken  of  in  an  earlier  part 
of  this  essay.  Professors  Fulton  and  Trueblood, 
in  their  "Practical  Elocution,"  find  three  elements 
in  man's  psychic  being;  namely,  vital,  mental, 
and  emotive,  which  division  they  find  it  philosoph- 
ical to  carry  into  every  division  of  their  work. 

If  now  we  pass  into  logic,  and  examine  the  pro- 
cess of  reasoning,  we  meet  with  trinality  again. 
The  syllogism  consists  of  three  propositions  and 
has  three  terms.  The  logical  concept  has  three 
distinctions, — contents,  extensions,  and  their 
reciprocal  connection.  Even  every  concept  is 
either  general,  particular,  or  singular.  In  gram- 
mar every  sentence  consists  of  subject,  copula, 
and  predicate. 

The  point  in  referring  to  these  analogies  is  this : 
The  universe  is  the  embodiment  of  the  Creator's 
ideas ;  in  a  sense,  it  "bodies  forth  the  constitution 
of  the  Creator."  This  is  so  much  the  case,  and  so 
apparent,  that  many  minds  have  declared  that  the 
universe  is  God  and  God  is  the  universe.     These 

5  65 


The  Holy  Trinity 

trinitarian  or  triadic  features  of  the  universe  give 
hint  of,  and  correspond  to  the  triune  nature  of 
God.  We  would  seem,  then,  in  the  Scriptures  to 
have  an  authoritative  setting  forth  of,  and  in 
physical  nature,  in  mind,  in  philosophy,  in  com- 
parative religion,  in  history,  a  corroborative  testi- 
mony to  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

X.  The  Practical  Importance  op  the  Doc- 
trine OF  the  Trinity 

It  may  be  profitable  to  give  a  brief  considera- 
tion to  the  practical  relations  and  value  of  this 
doctrine : 

1.  It  affects  the  very  conception  of  the  nature 
and  being  of  God.  The  conceptions  of  God,  as 
held  respectively  by  the  trinitarian  and  the  anti- 
trinitarian  are  not  the  same.  If  God  has  been  re- 
vealed as  a  triune  God,  subsisting  as  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit,  then  the  Unitarian  conception 
of  God  must  be  a  radical  error.  Says  Dr.  Dorner, 
"Only  he  truly  thinks  the  personal  God  who  does 
not  deny  the  triune  God."  A  Christian  cannot 
be  indifferent  as  to  whether  his  ideas  of  God,  as 
far  as  he  is  able  to  comprehend  him,  are  true  or 
not.     It  is  necessary  to  a  correct  system  of  doc- 

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The  Holy  Trinity 

trine  that  one's  knowledge  of  God  be  at  least  ap- 
proximately true. 

2.  A  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  a 
matter  of  theory  and  of  fact,  involves  the  denial 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  or,  at  most,  al- 
lows only  a  moral  effect  to  the  death  of  Christ. 
Unitarianism,  deism,  and  rationalism  deny  the 
vicarious  nature  of  Christ's  death.  They  reject 
the  doctrine  of  propitiation. 

3.  As  a  consequence,  the  antitrinitarian  theol- 
ogy has  also  a  feeble  theory  as  to  the  nature  and 
turpitude  of  sin.  Sin  is  not  so  heinous  a  thing, 
after  all,  and  did  not  require  the  death  of  the 
God-man  to  atone  for  it.  Christ  was  not  a  ran- 
som for  sin;  he  did  not  expiate  our  guilt. 

4.  This  reacts  upon  the  conception  of  the 
moral  character  of  God — lowers  the  biblical  teach- 
ing as  to  God's  holiness.  The  darkness  of  the 
biblical  representation  of  sin  brings  out  by  con- 
trast into  clear  prominence  the  holiness  of  God. 

5.  The  denial  of  the  Trinity  diminishes  the 
degree  of  Christ's  humiliation.  If  he  was  only 
a  man,  he  did  no  more  than  many  another  martyr 
has  done.  But  if  Christ  really  was  "on  an  equal- 
ity with  God,"  in  coming  into  this  world,  he  also 

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The  Holy  Trinity 

really  "emptied  himself    .    .     .    humbled  him- 
self." 

6.  The  antitrinitarian  view  also  lowers  the 
conception  of  God's  love  for  our  race.  "God  bo 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son."  But  if  Christ  was  only  a  man,  or  a 
creature,  his  humiliation  and  death  could  be  no 
such  affecting  exhibition  of  God's  love  as  if  he 
were  his  eternal,  "well-beloved  Son." 

7.  All  this  involves  wrong  notions,  also,  of 
justification,  regeneration,  sanctification,  etc.  The 
views  of  Unitarians  on  these  subjects  are  wholly 
unlike  those  of  the  orthodox  churches.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  they  are  found  to  deny  these  doctrines, 
and  also  the  proper  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures. 

8.  Dr.  Harris  says  truly,  "Christ  presents  the 
Trinity  as  central  in  the  organization,  worship, 
doctrine,  and  work  of  his  church."  Christ  says, 
"Go  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  But 
this  is  the  Trinity.  "It  is  the  central  reality  on 
which  the  church  is  organized.  Baptism  is  the 
sacrament  of  admission  to  the  Christian  church. 
In  all  ages  and  nations,  whoever  enters  it  is  to  see 

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The  Holy  Trinity 

the  triune  name  emblazoned  over  its  gateway,  and 
in  being  admitted  .  .  .  is  to  be  baptized  into 
the  one  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost." 

9.  "The  Trinity,  as  revealed  in  Christ,  is  of 
vital  moment  in  the  practical  experience  and  work 
of  the  Christian  life."  Christ  is  the  "Light  of  the 
world,"  the  "Door,"  the  "Good  Shepherd."  He 
is  to  forgive  our  sins,  to  be  our  intercessor.  In 
him  we  are  to  trust,  through  him  to  be  reconciled. 
To  him  and  in  his  name  we  are  to  pray;  that  is, 
we  are  to  worship  him.  Deny  his  divinity,  what 
becomes  of  all  this?  The  Holy  Spirit  is  to  re- 
generate and  sanctify  and  guide  and  comfort  and 
instruct  us.  But  if  he  is  only  an  attribute  or  in- 
fluence, then  what?  "The  denial  of  the  Trinity 
changes  the  conception  of  the  essential  character 
of  the  right  moral  life.  It  sunders  morality  from 
religion,  emphasizes  man's  natural  ability,  his 
work  of  righteousness." 

10.  I  subjoin  a  few  opinions  of  eminent 
writers:  Dr.  Townsend,  "The  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  is  vital  to  the  whole  system."  Dr.  Knapp, 
"Intimately  connected  with  the  whole  exhibition 
of  Christian  truth."    Dr.  Schaff,  "The  very  center 

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The  Holy  Trinity 

of  the  Christian  revelation.''  Van  Oosterzee,  "The 
bulwark  of  Christian  theism."  Christlieb,  "No 
true  theism  without  the  Trinity."  Neander, 
"Forms  the  basis  of  the  true  unity  of  the  church 
and  the  identity  of  the  Christian  consciousness  in 
all  ages."  Charles  Kingsley :  "My  heart  demands 
the  Trinity  as  much  as  my  reason.  I  say,  boldly, 
if  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not  in  the  Bible, 
it  ought  to  be." 


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